DIY WEDDING GALLERY CONTINUED PART 2

This instructable is continued from Part 1 DIY wedding gallery. In this instructable I will share place cards, center pieces, and nature finds. In this picture I used a grape leaf, a seed packet wedding favor, and a painted rock with the bride and groom's name and date of wedding.  You can use either a green leaf or dry the leaf by pressing it between book pages. You can also find a grape leaf pattern on-line doing a pre-school coloring book page search and printing it out.

This one would make a great fall decoration.  The white plate and doily really set it off. 
Here is a pear from my garden. I made a name card cutting the leaf design with pinking scissors and using a hole puncher I tied the bow through the hole and put it on the pear.

This picture shows a calender page I folded to create a place card. I used a permanent marking pen to write the name. I had a pair of new white shoes I decorated with silk flowers and placed a straw hat in the back ground with beads, satin and a candle.

This was made for a place card holder but you could use this for a table decoration by not making the name tag.   I added river rock, water, a juniper stem, a pinked tree on green card stock paper with a jute tie and a ribbon.  It is on a paper doily and a white plate.

Here is a center piece  using all natural things growing in the country except the vase and ribbon.  I placed rock in the bottom, added water, a juniper stem, weed, and moss.  Gourds are  in one vase with a ribbon. On the plate is a handful of some type of weed with a ribbon tied around it.

Here I placed rock in the bottom of a tall clear square vase and added a painted Yucca pod, evergreen stem, a gourd and placed it on an "off-white"  plate.   This makes a very nice winter arrangement.  You could add cotton instead of the rock to make a snow arrangement.  I thought it might look pretty with some red berries.  There are so many different ways you can create an arrangement.   

Grape leaves are a nice addition to use for decorating.  They can be used green or dry.  A brighter color of ink would have been nicer with this place setting.   I just placed a grape leaf on a plate, added a ribbon and wrote a name with a marker.   The lovely shape of a grape leaf has a beauty of its own.  A small clump of grapes set on the leaf would be a pretty embellishment also. 

This may surprise you. What you see here is a plastic heart that has a 3 sided heart looking seed pod from an ash tree. The pod is kind of a rusty color . I added a ribbon and wrote the name with a marker. This guest favor would be very nice to receive because our planet needs trees! How many of us think about the things we do and how it affects the environment and people around us? We recently and reluctantly removed a huge elm tree from our yard because it had become too dangerous to keep. Since we removed the tree, our house is at least 10 degrees hotter. That tree was 70 years old!  We live in a very hot climate and you would be surprised how many people here do not have a nice shade tree in their yard. Oh how I want my elm tree back!  We did plant trees a few years ago anticipating the tree removal.
 

Here is a painted river rock. Mr. & Mrs Bradford and their wedding date written with a marker. Matchbook made of a brown paper bag folded like a matchbook, stapled and a ribbon added. Inside is red bud tree seeds and a personal note from the happy couple. It sits on a square white plate with a grape leaf under it.


The note reads:

Dearest family and friends,
Thank you for sharing one of the
most important dates we will celebrate
in our lifetime.
We wanted to give you something to
take home to be part of our yearly
celebration of our marriage. We could
not think of a better thing to give,
but seeds from the Eastern Red Bud tree.
This is a small tree with large heart
shaped leaves that blooms lovely pink,
white or red showy blossoms in the early
spring. Mature size is 20' high X 25" - 30" long.
Hardiness is 5-6. Can be planted as long as
the ground is not frozen. It can grow in any type
of well drained soil. It requires very little
maintance except during the hot dry spells.
Trim the branches in February and bring them
inside and place them in water and in about 10 days
blossoms will appear.
The rock can be placed under the tree to remind
you of our union and celebration of our anniversary.
As the tree grows from year to year you can see
how strong our love has grown. 
Lovingly,
Bride and Groom

I visted my local winery and they gave me a box of corks. I tied 3 together with raffia, drew some grapes, leaves,  and cut them out of green card stock paper. The leaves are separate from the grapes and have a small hole punched in the top so a ribbon could tie to the grapes. I pinked the edges with pinking scissors to set them apart from the grapes. I used a marker  for the name. I placed the card between the corks for support.

Here I placed small rocks in vases, added silk flowers, water, a juniper stem, ribbon, wild weeds I found in the country, and a floating candle to set the tone.  This could be used for the table at the entrance of the wedding ceremony.  Clear glass is elegant, romantic,  and graceful for any formal occasion. 

I love these name cards.  I folded the paper on the sides about 1/2 inch and folded the top and bottom toward the back and glued the folds.  The trick is to find large prints of flowers or designs and make sure they are kind of centered on the paper, it makes the envelope turn out better when they are.  Then I wrote the names with a marker. I use these all the time for personal letters and cards.  The postal employees have often commented on them.  I often use magazine pages as well. 

Gardenias are such a graceful blooming bush. A bush can get very large and have hundreds of blossoms on them. If you know of someone that has one they would be a great addition to your table setting. Thank you for stopping by.  I hope some of these ideas have been helpful.